I'm contemplating ending my career as a clarinetist. It's a choice I never expected to face. I thought I'd stay at my job until retirement. Music chose me -- I know I could never have pursued anything else without feeling paralyzing regret.

I'm not sure how I got here. One might assume that giving birth to my first child was the...

Before I fall asleep I keep my eye on that spider, his body as big as a dime, legs spread out and gripping the wall of the wooden hut. I’m hot and itchy, and my eyes are swollen from allergies, but I pull the hood of my sweatshirt over my head and push my face against Luke’s shoulder. Someone hits a switch and the single light bulb on...